By Antonio D. French
Filed Monday, April 3 at 8:52 PM
PUB DEF EXCLUSIVE
The St. Louis Teachers Union will defend any teacher that chooses to take off of work tomorrow. That's according to the group's president.
Mary Armstrong, president of Local 420, told PUB DEF today that district officials first told the teachers back in March that the start of MAP testing would be moved up to the week of April 10. Superintendent Creg Williams had expressed some concerns about the testing period for the important exams covering four weeks. He wanted it to cover just two weeks.
According to Armstrong, the date of April 10 was published on the district's website, the union's website and in the teachers' newsletter. Then a few weeks ago the district again changed the date -- to Election Day, April 4 -- and sent out notices expressly forbidding teachers from taking off during the testing period.
Armstrong said the teachers were "stabbed in the back" after negotiating in good faith with the district. She said that if any teacher that took off tomorrow for an "emergency" -- which she said is allowed even in so-called "black out" periods -- the union would defend them should the district pursue punishment.
9 Comments:
We may preach democracy to the rest of the world, but there is plenty of room for improvement in the democratic process right here in our own community. The gracious gesture would have been to accommodate our city teachers by the one day in question. Clearly, the administration either doesn't have the sense of good will that it would have taken to do that, or is following instructions from the powers that be to not budge by so much as a day on this. I always thought it was one person, one vote, not supression of the votes of the have-nots by using the power of the haves.
10:43 PM, April 03, 2006
that's bullshit man, they still have time to vote, since when do teachers get election day off but nobody else does. I bet Creg Williams is working on election day.
1:59 AM, April 04, 2006
Gregg, some teachers have traditionally taken Election Day off to volunteer at the polls and help get out the vote for their candidates of choice. They have always done so without the threat of being fired.
For some of these teachers, Election Day is one of the few days they miss work all year.
4:48 AM, April 04, 2006
That's not true Antonio, my sources tell me that absentee-ism among the Teaching staff is extremely high compared to other St. Louis Districts.
Also, traditionally, these teachers also didn't teach their students to read!
6:19 AM, April 04, 2006
Everyone has to work on Election Day. I am going to campaigning for my political issues at Fanning School today; however, I am also still going to be at work, and school.
If I can still campaign, and work, while going to school, then teachers should be in the classroom teaching the kids.
These teachers should be worried about their failing students, not their political duties. If they would rather campaign, instead of teach, then they are in the wrong career.
6:36 AM, April 04, 2006
Do you think that anyone got any business done at City Hall on the day of the last mayoral primary?
Where are the preening bellyachers when it comes to those workers taking off to lobby for Slay? Take your words against the teachers to heart and be ready to denounce the patrinage class in August when they skip work to fly kites for Greg Daly and Mike McMillan!
7:54 AM, April 04, 2006
Just another example of teachers putting their jobs before their students.
7:58 AM, April 04, 2006
Or it is another example of teachers putting their students first.
Possibly risking your job to affect a perceived positive change in the school district is indeed admirable.
8:23 AM, April 04, 2006
Ya’ll might think all this Hate’n on teachers is cool, But this absurd ranting sound like the following to me.
Hate… Hate… Hate…
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RAIN… Those damn clouds and all that water; getten me wet. Then those plants start growen and maken me sneeze.
TAXES... I hate em. I got to pay all this money and all I get is a stable society without IEDs blowen up my Kids.
VOTING… I got to wake up and got to a church or school to make a decision. Screw that Ill let some one else do that.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
If ya'll could stop hate’n so much and talk to a teacher or a city worker you might find out that these folks really follow what is going on in this city. I talk to the public employees in my neighborhood. It seems to me that all this Hate’n is keeping ya’ll from being happy in life.
9:18 AM, April 04, 2006
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